Our latest guarantee is our “Barefoot Beachfront Guarantee“, which can be simply summarised as :

“theReef guarantees the lowest price for a beachfront room”

Of course there are one or two conditions…it would be unfair of customers to tweak a guarantee to compare our rates to those of resorts without full service amenities or a pristine beach like ours, after all …. but our focus is to make it simple for you to plan your vacation and know you are getting the best price for a beachfront room.. and don’t we all want a beachfront room ?

I think we have hit on something, as just the other day I received an email from TravelZoo that they sent out to hoteliers to encourage them in their marketing. Now, TravelZoo are well known for their eye-catching “Top20″ ads, and in fact we were impressed with their efforts when we used them for one such effort a while back, but this latest shows how the industry is going away from being straightforward with their pricing..just as theReef is giving you a guarantee of clear and simple pricing. I know which I prefer ! So, this from TravelZoo :

“People care about the view – lead in with an attractive rate, then offer upgrades to ocean view. 34% of our audience books an alternative deal once enticed leading to a much higher room rate than what was originally promoted.”

Can you say “bait and switch” ?

I’m not picking on TravelZoo here, this is an industry trend.. just warning you as the traveller to be warned.. and to be sure in the knowledge that at theReef you are guaranteed a beachfront room.. hey, ALL our rooms are beachfront, you can’t go wrong !

Still… we’ve never seen anything quite so cool as this video.

You’ve probably all seen this already…..one of the most popular videos on YouTube ever.

Watch as the whole wedding party gets into the act of a fantastic dance into the church, you can just imagine how much fun this tight bunch of friends had thinking this up and rehearsing it.

The video is five minutes long.. but don’t skip a moment.. it just gets better and better as it goes along… and when the bride comes in….post a comment to this blog and tell me what your reaction was…..be honest… tears in the eyes and a smile… ?

View the video here …enjoy !

An extract :

“The Reef has embraced PRIDE and is making customer service a top priority in its growth and development.

The 162–room resort located on Grand Cayman’s East End is using the Department of Tourism’s PRIDE (which stands for Personal Responsibility in Delivering Excellence) customer service training programme, with over 75 per cent of the organization’s employees having undergone the training since the DoT introduced it over a year ago to raise customer service standards in the Cayman Islands tourism sector.

“We wanted the Reef to spearhead the movement to transform customer service in the Cayman Islands,” said The Reef’s Deputy Resort Manager Brian Ebanks.”

For more information on PRIDE, visit www.caymanislands.ky/pride

Ok, so perhaps I’m far too geeky, but I’m going to try to take our philosophy of running theReef based on customer feedback to a different level.

On Sep 27th (latest update… as CI Cycling are running an event on Sun 20th) we are going to run the first of our “Reefathlon” events, geared around getting both local and visiting cyclists to enjoy the experience of cycling whilst staying at theReef.

Where did this idea come from ? Well, this year the National Roads Authority in Cayman finished putting a lovely coat of SMOOTH blacktop down on the roads in our area (thank you!), so cyclists now have a fantastic 19 mile loop right in front of theReef !

With virtually no traffic, more than three quarters of the loop being coastal roads offering incredible scenery and cooling breezes, as well as two of the nearest things we have on our flat island to “hills”, this road is fast becoming a mecca for local cyclists.

For our visitors, my master plan (beginning to sound like Dr. Evil !.. but my intentions are good ) is to make theReef THE place to take a Caribbean vacation for cyclists. After all, golfers take their clubs on family vacation, divers their gear.. why not cyclists their bike ?

Anyway, back to Twitter. The first step down this road is our first race, a 19 mile Time Trial on the morning of Sunday September 27th.

Core concept is to set an entry fee that includes an overnight stay at theReef with a beach BBQ / pasta party the night before, then the race, then everyone can socialise afterwards again with some cool drinks at the beach bar.

Already working on some sweet giveaway goodies, plus there WILL be prizes on offers to challenge both visiting and local cyclists to take on our reigning Cayman time trial champion, Jerome Ameline, otherwise know at “TGV”.

So…planning in high gear now, website for the race “soon come”, but help with the planning by following me on Twitter @TomCayman, the hashtag is #Reefathlon

Tweet me !

Two things of note on this. First, Alan would definitely tell it like it is (ie if he had a problem, he would put it in the article!), and second, he paid full rate.. didn’t ask for a freebie, didn’t tell me he was writing an article.

Given that high level of journalistic integrity and ethics, makes the fact that his article was a glowing commendation all the more sweet !

I’m so much into Twitter (follow me @TomCayman), Facebook etc, plus being a Destination Expert for Cayman on Tripadvisor… that I’m not blogging like I used to… sorry !

However really must bring this one to your attention.

We recently had the folks at ICEPortal shoot some new HD Virtual Tours for us, and they are AH..MAZING !!!

If you’ve not actually been to theReef yet, this will show you the resort in such high definition (make sure you watch it full screen) that is really is like being here.

Go to our home page and click on the Virtual Tours link on the top right, then click on the HD360 tab… or heck, just click this link here

Enjoy ! and see you here soon.. not virtually, but for real

These and more great photos on Courtney Platt’s blog

(dude !)

Call us crazy, but we are doing our part here at theReef to snap people out of their hesitancy to book their summer or fall vacation…as we figure you just won’t be able to resist this crazy low rate.

Come on.. $79 for a beachfront suite in the Cayman Islands… you just gotta do it, huh ?

All that gorgeous sand and clear blue waters await you.. the perfect recipe for some Simple Relaxation !

Now, just to make sure you get out the credit card and send the email / make the call /book online, we are giving you a few days to think about it.. but then only a short window to actually book.. miss the window and the rate goes up !

So.. visit our “One Beach’In Suite” page at www.thereef.com/beachin , then be ready to book anytime between 5pm EDT Wed 13th and Midnight Sat 16th !

To make sure you have no reason to stall any further, we have also introduced our “Simply No Worries” guarantee ,  so you’ve got nothing to be worried about.

Still, for those who always procrastinate, the regret if you miss the window will be tempered by our Simply Summer Savings sale, giving low rates on ALL our room types all summer and fall long. These rates represent savings of at least 35% from our regular low summer rates, so the deals are there all year long for you in 2009 !

Finally.. and straight from the horse’s mouth.. you WON’T see these rates again next year.. this is the silver lining in the dark clouds that 2009 have brought to the global economy.. carpe diem !

I said the others have good reasons… me ? Not so much..just getting addicted to Twitter, Facebook and Tripadvisor… all new ways to talk to people.

I spend far too much time on these places, but if you can’t find anything to watch on TV, you can follow me on Twitter @TomCayman, and I’m frequently found hanging out on the Tripadvisor Cayman page on their forums.

And no…TV bores me.. except BBC News America, The Daily Show, and the Colbert Report… but normally got the laptop with me then too !

A core part of that dream is to “waterproof” Cayman’s kids, and that means ALL of Cayman’s kids.

In the Eastern Districts there is (until the new Frank Sound High School is built) nowhere for primary school children to learn to swim.

We’ve therefore done our part at theReef to help, with North Side primary school being taught in the larger pool at theReef two mornings a week.

This is noted in today’s Cayman Compass , including a picture I took last week as I saw the school bus parked by the pool one morning.. boy, those kids were having way too much fun !